Surrender: A devotional on desperation, humility, and giving over

 "He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” — 2 Peter 3:17-18 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, As I conclude the letter of 2 Peter, I stand forewarned of the Day of the Lord. It is coming. I am not unaware. Therefore, I am to be on my guard and watch out for the spiritual error and lies of false teachers and lawless people who want to carry me away in their error and falsehood. In order to stand guard and not fall from my security in You, I am to grow in You. The environment where I am growing is in Your grace. Your grace is limitless, it’s infinite. It is not Your grace that grows, rather it is in thi...

 "just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” — 2 Peter 3:15b-16 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter recognizes that the encouragement he is sharing about the Lord’s patience meaning salvation is echoed by the Apostle Paul in his letters which he wrote with God’s wisdom. Peter acknowledges that some things Paul writes are hard to understand and that unlearned and unsteadfast people distort these Scriptures as they do with other Scriptures. The word Peter uses means “to twist, to torture, to put to the rack, to pervert.” These false teachers who do not correctly interpret what Scripture says are twisting it to say what they want. They are forcing Scripture into an unnatural position and making ...

 "Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation,” — 2 Peter 3:15a Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, I forget that what seems like Your delay is actually Your patience. And the reason for Your patience is for people’s salvation. Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” It is Your patient waiting and Your kindness that opens the door for Your children to repent and turn to God. If You were to return today to exact judgment on the earth, billions would face an eternity in hell. Your patience gives people an opportunity to hear the Gospel, in some cases again and again, and make a decision about their eternity and whether to submit their life to You or remain in rebellion to You. Your patience means salvation for those I love and continue to pray for. I also forget that Your timing is perfect. I want You to come right now to encounter ...

 "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” — 2 Peter 3:14 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, This is the third time in three verses that Peter uses the word  prosdokáo  — “looking forward.” We are looking forward with watchful anticipation and expectation to the Day You return. Since we are watching expectantly, we are to endeavor and exert diligence with speed, effort, and labor to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace. This statement echoes Peter’s earlier call to “make every effort to add to your faith,” in 2 Peter 1:5. These two words “spotless” and “blameless” are both positional and practical. 1 Peter 1:19 says You were “a lamb without blemish or defect (spot).” You offered Your life as the perfect sacrifice to redeem my life. Therefore, my blamelessness is already secured in Christ. I’m blameless because You took away my blame. That is my position. Yet these...

 "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” — 2 Peter 3:11-13 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Everything will be destroyed. The word Peter uses in vss. 11 and 12 translated in the NIV to “destroyed” and “destruction” is lyo  (λύω). It means "to loose something that is bound, to loosen, undo, dissolve anything bound, tied or compacted together.” The word is translated to English as “loose, break, unloose, destroy, dissolve, put off, melt, break up, break down.” Here’s what is fascinating. Peter says that the Day of the Lord will bring about the dissolving and unloosening of the heavens by fire and the eleme...

  “ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. ” — 2 Peter 3:10 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Repeatedly, You said You would be coming like a thief. Revelation 3:3, “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Again in Revelation 16:15, “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” You warned Your disciples to stay awake and be watchful. Luke 12:39-40, “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Whatev...

 "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:8-9 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, You are patient. These two verses are dense with theology and revelation of Your heart toward mankind. First, what seems like forever to us is but a short time to You. You are outside of linear time. You see past, present, and future all at once. Nothing is long. Nothing is short. All things are equally near and present to Your view. Psalm 90:4 states, “A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by.” You see time with a perspective we lack; the delay of a thousand years is just a day in light of eternity. You see time with an intensity we lack; one day with You can contain the immensity of a thousand...

 "Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." — 2 Peter 3:3-7 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, In these last days, there are plenty of scoffers. If one shares a warning, whether it be mentioning the increasing and intensifying birth pains we are witnessing or clearly articulating Your soon-coming return, scoffers not only scoff but they repudiate the one giving the warning. They cannot see the signs of the t...

 "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles." — 2 Peter 3:1-2 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter wrote this second letter to the churches to serve along with his first letter as reminders to literally stir up their pure and sincere minds. An impure mind doesn't need stirring up or stimulation. But a pure mind needs to be stirred and stimulated for continuous wholesome thinking. That's why I come to Your Word. Your Word stimulates my mind. My redeemed way of thinking needs a continual reminder to stay on course, to remain pure in my thoughts, and to recall how I have chosen to live. Peter also wants his readers to recall the words spoken by the holy prophets long ago and the commands given by You through Your apostles. The words o...

 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” — 2 Peter 2:20-22 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter uses a word here to describe what a believer has escaped by knowing You. He uses the word  "miasmata" which means "corruption, pollution, things that infect, pollute, or defile." As believers in Christ, we have escaped this sin-sick world of miasmata  and its polluting infection upon us. But if a believer gets entangled in that pollution all over again and is overcome by it, they are actually worse...

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” — 2 Peter 2:19 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, You came to break and free people from this cycle of sin and depravity. Why is it so alluring? Why do those who are so enslaved by sin seek to bring others down into that prison cell with them? They call it "freedom" — it's literally "fancied liberty, the license to do as one pleases." True freedom is living as we should, not as we please. These people promise a false freedom and a licentious liberty to others while actually being in complete bondage to depravity, corruption, and destruction. Galatians 6:8 describes this depravity, "Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction (corruption, depravity); whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." If we are sowing seeds to please our flesh, the harvest we will re...

 "These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error." — 2 Peter 2:17-18 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, I used to live this way. I was one who was an empty spring and just a vaporous mist driven by the storms of life. I used to mouth empty and boastful words and tried to entice people to sin. Often I was good at it, even those who were trying to escape from sin. My heart hurts thinking of those I harmed and drew away from You. Lord, thank you for forgiving me, saving me, and bringing me to the truth. Lord, sometimes those old thoughts drift back in, during daytime imaginations and during nighttime dreams. Lord, bring me back to You today; free of the blackest darkness that still hunts me down. May I walk in Your light today, unencumbered by the lus...

 "They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness." — 2 Peter 2:15-16 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Speaking of these same false teachers and ungodly people, Jude 11 says "they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error." Balaam was a "prophet for hire" who was seduced by financial gain from King Balak to curse Israel. The Lord wouldn't permit it and 'an angel of the Lord' stood in Balaam's way. This angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate Jesus. You stood in his way. You even opened the donkey's mouth to rebuke Balaam. Your own words to him in Numbers 22:32 are chilling, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me....

 "They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!" — 2 Peter 2:13-14 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter spends twice the words describing the sin and the character of these false teachers than he does describing their destruction. As my blood begins to boil reading how terrible these corrupt and arrogant false teachers are, verse 13 finally brings justice and calms my fury. They will be paid back. God will bring justice. They will receive harm for the harm they have done. This really brings to light the consequences of false teachers' sin. The bride of Christ is harmed. I have seen this. I have had to work long and hard to rebuild trust that others have broken, to restore what others...

 "This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish." — 2 Peter 2:10-12 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Those who follow the corrupt desire of their sinful flesh are creatures of instinct. They are running after sin without reason and with no forethought. They despise any authority that would warn them or divert their path. They are daringly presumptuous. They are not afraid to blaspheme and bring accusation against heaven's majestic beings and upon God's glory. They blaspheme ignorantly in matters they ...

 "and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment." — 2 Peter 2:7-9 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Genesis 19 recounts the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities in the plains of the Jordan. Genesis 13:13 says, "Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord." Ezekiel 16:49-50 describes this city's sin. They were "arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before Me." Lot chose to live and remain in this wicked city and even become a civic leader ("seated at the gateway of the city," Genesis 19:1). But Lo...

 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;" — 2 Peter 2:4-6 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter is beginning an if-then statement that doesn't conclude until verse 9. But here at the front, I see God's righteous judgment and three examples of his judgment. David Guzik explains it this way: - God judged the angels who sinned, so no one is too high to be judged. - God judged the ancient world before the flood, so God doesn't grade on a curve, only comparing man among other men. - God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, so even the prosperous can be judged. Therefore the ungodly h...

 "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." — 2 Peter 2:1-3 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, What's most disturbing about this passage is not that there are false teachers among us, but that there are many who will follow them. Lord, my heart aches for those who seemingly never had a chance to hear the true Gospel and have been swept up by sweet-sounding lies. I hurt for those who heard the Gospel and chose to follow You, but were swayed by false teaching that tickled their ears.  Gracious God, I'm thankful ...

 "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." — 2 Peter 1:20-21 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, The mystery of Scripture is this: written over a period of 1400 years by 40 different authors from all walks of life, written from three continents and in three different languages. Yet, despite the diversity of its human authors, the Bible has a single, unifying message—salvation is through Jesus Christ the Messiah. Peter underscores this by saying no prophecy of Scripture came by human understanding, private interpretation, or personal creativity. Prophecy never originated in human will. Rather, each human prophet spoke and wrote as, "they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The word translated "carried along" is the Greek word p...

 "We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." — 2 Peter 1:19 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Peter is emphasizing his point that this Gospel is not a myth, fable, or cleverly devised story. He says, "If you don't believe me, go to the Scriptures." the Old Testament's 353+ prophecies of the Messiah were completely fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The odds of one man fulfilling only eight Old Testament messianic prophecies is 1 in 100 quadrillion (10 to the 17th power). To understand this, picture silver dollars two feet deep covering the state of Texas. Now mark one silver dollar with a red X and have a blind-folded person find that marked silver dollar. That's the chance of one person fulfilling just eight prophecies. Jesus Christ, You fulfilled them all, which makes the prophet...